Tracy Morgan apologizes for anti-gay remarks in homophobic rant at comedy show

AP Photo/Evan Agostini"30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan has apologized for a homophobic rant that upset fans at a Nashville performance last week.

"30 Rock" star and former "Saturday Night Live" actor Tracy Morgan has issued an apology after a fan's public criticism of a recent stand-up comedy performance went viral.

According to The New York Times, Kevin Rogers, a gay audience member at a June 3 show in Nashville, wrote a Facebook post titled "Why I No Longer 'Like' Tracy Morgan: A Must Read." Rogers said 10-15 people walked out of Morgan's performance after the comedian said homosexuality is a choice because "God don't make mistakes," suggesting that being gay is a mistake.

Rogers also said that Morgan was unapologetic for his rant, saying "if they can take a (expletive) (expletive) up their (expletive) they can take a (expletive) joke."

The Facebook post went viral and gay rights organizations demanded an apology. GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said, "Tracy Morgan's management needs to investigate these allegations and should they prove true, we call on him to remove these violently anti-gay remarks from his show and send a strong message that anti-gay violence is not something to joke about."

The comedian-actor responded Friday with a public apology.

"I want to apologize to my fans and the gay and lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others," Morgan said in a statement. "While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context."

However, E! Online reports his apology might not make up for what he said. "Tracy Morgan exercised extremely poor judgment and he did the right thing by apologizing," the Human Rights Campaign's Fred Sainz said in a statement. "But that's just not enough.